In the News

June 14, 2012 — The Michigan House on Wednesday voted 70-39 to approve a bill (HB 5711) that would place several new restrictions on abortion providers, the Detroit Free Pressreports. Six Democrats joined 64 Republicans in voting to advance the measure to the Senate.

The bill would increase insurance and licensing requirements for abortion providers and bar physicians from using telemedicine to provide medication abortion. The bill also would impose new requirements for disposing of fetal remains and require health providers to screen women to see if they had been coerced into seeking abortions (Gray, Detroit Free Press, 6/13).

The House opted not to vote on two other antiabortion bills (HB 5712, HB 5713), including one that would ban abortion after 20 weeks of pregnancy that includes no exceptions for cases of rape, incest or fetal anomalies. Ari Adler, a spokesperson for House Speaker Jase Bolger (R), said lawmakers first want to verify that the ban is constitutional.

The Legislature adjourns on Thursday for a summer recess (Livengood, Detroit News, 6/13). The Senate likely will consider the remaining bills sometime in September, according to MLive.

Reaction to Vote

Rebecca Mastee of the Michigan Catholic Conference, which supports the bills, said HB 5711 "simply contains common sense measures to hold the abortion industry accountable, and more importantly, to help protect the health and safety of women."

Planned Parenthood Advocates of Michigan Chair Lori Lamerand said, "It's clear this bill is about politics -- not women's health or safety." PPAM has called the bill "the biggest assault on women's health in our state's history" (Martin, MLive, 6/13).

On Tuesday, about 200 Planned Parenthood supporters rallied at the state Capitol to protest the three bills (AP/NECN, 6/12). Another rally is planned for Thursday, according to MLive (MLive, 6/13).

Video Round Up

An Interview with Justice Ginsburg on the State of Abortion Access

In a rare interview, Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg tells MSNBC's Irin Carmon it is a "crying shame" that state abortion restrictions are making the procedure increasingly "[i]naccessible" to many low-income women. Watch the video

Datapoints

A Look at Abortion Coverage in the ACA's Marketplace Plans, Repro Health Report Card, More

This week's charts depict why abortion coverage is unavailable in many states' ACA marketplace plans for 2015. We also feature a national reproductive health report card and an interactive look at abortion restrictions in Missouri. Read more

At A Glance

"[Roe v. Wade] protects a woman's freedom to make her own choices about her body and her health, and reaffirms a fundamental American value: that government should not intrude in our most private and personal family matters."

— President Obama, commemorating the 42nd anniversary of Roe v. Wade. Read more